'The Private View at the Royal Academy, 1881', a scene of influential Victorians at an exhibition painted by William Powell Frith (1819-1909), is on offer from St James’s dealer Martin Beisly for a price in the region of £10m.

Prof David Starkey has said the most successful art dealers, such as his friend Philip Mould, do not necessarily have the greatest knowledge of art history but rather possess 'a flair for discoveries'.